Story Ideas for Media 1-10-06

News

New faces in Ohio State’s Media Relations Office – Ohio State is proud to welcome two new faces to its media relations staff: Shelly Hoffman and Jim Lynch.
Shelly Hoffman, who most recently served as director of corporate public relations for Nationwide Insurance, joined the university last fall as assistant vice president for media relations. She succeeds Elizabeth Conlisk who is on leave from Ohio State to attend the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Jim Lynch joins Ohio State as the director of media relations and was most recently employed as the assistant chief of communications for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The following is an updated list of contact information for Ohio State Media Relations:

Shelly Hoffman
Assistant Vice President for Media Relations
(614) 247-4748
(614) 571-6826 (cell phone)
hoffman.511@osu.edu

Jim Lynch
Director of Media Relations
(614) 247-4110
(614) 323-9515 (cell phone)
Lynch.270@osu.edu

Liz Cook
Assistant Director
(614) 292-7276
cook.17@osu.edu

Amy Murray
Assistant Director
(614) 292-8385
murray-goedde.1@osu.edu

Research

On the loose: urban coyotes thrive in North American cities – Even in the largest American cities, a historically maligned beast – the coyote – is thriving. This animal’s amazing ability to thrive in metropolitan areas has greatly surprised scientists, says Stanley Gehrt, an assistant professor of environmental and natural resources at Ohio State University. Gehrt is in the sixth year of a multi-year study of coyote behavior in urban Chicago.
Since the study began, Gehrt and his colleagues have found that urban coyote populations are much larger than expected; that they live longer than their rural cousins in these environments; and that they are more active at nighttime than coyotes living in rural areas.
Coyotes also do some good – they help control rapidly growing populations of Canada geese throughout North America.
While his coyote research is concentrated in Chicago, the results likely apply to most major metropolitan areas in North America. Gehrt has even seen several near Ohio State’s campus in Columbus. CONTACT: Stan Gehrt, (614) 292-1930; Gehrt.1@osu.edu, SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/urbcoyot.htm

Events

Mobile hospital tent on display – Jan. 10. A mobile hospital system, similar to those used to aid Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, will be on display at from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday (1/10) in the Ohio Union West Ballroom, 1739 N. High Street, as part of the OSU School of Public Health\'s lecture series on preparedness. The event is sponsored by the Ohio Center for Public Health Preparedness, a division of the school\'s Office of Workforce Development – established with a $5.7 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Michael Ottaway, a graduate of the school’s Ohio Public Health Leadership Institute (OPHLI) and Southwest Ohio public health emergency response coordinator based out of the Hamilton County General Health District, will highlight what he learned from experiences gained during his deployment to the Gulf Coast region following Hurricane Katrina. CONTACT: Christine O’Malley, School of Public Health, (614) 293-9406.

Conference encourages eating local food – Jan. 11. The food that ends up on your dinner plate may have traveled thousands of miles before it reaches your lips. But there are plenty of reasons why encouraging the production and purchase of locally grown foods makes sense. Those reasons will be examined in a conference on Wednesday (1/11) entitled “The Case for Local Food Systems,” sponsored by the Social Responsibility Initiative of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Speakers will address the economic, social and environmental reasons why encouraging consumption, production, and distribution of local foods makes sense. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Agricultural Administration Auditorium, 2120 Fyffe Road. CONTACT: Martha Filipic, (614) 292-9833 or filipic.3@osu.edu

Ohio State observes 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration – Jan 12 and 16. Johnnetta Cole, president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. will be the keynote speaker at Ohio State’s 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration at 7 p.m. on Thursday (1/12) in the Ohio Union Ballrooms, 1739 N. High Street. The event is free and open to all.
Cole has a distinguished career as an educator and humanitarian. Her published works, speeches and community service address issues of race, gender, equality, and human rights.
“Legacy: Building the Beloved Community” is the theme for the university’s 2006 observance.
The campus will also celebrate King’s legacy with a day of service and a march from campus to downtown on Monday (1/16). Students are encouraged to volunteer to “Make It A Day ON, Not A Day OFF” and participate in the “MLK Jr. Day of Service 2006” at various community agencies in Columbus. On-site registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High Street. Students will participate in a morning program from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. at the Ohio Union before leaving for their designated sites and return to campus at 1:30 p.m.
Students will join counterparts from Columbus State Community College in a symbolic march from the Ohio State campus to the citywide march and celebration in downtown Columbus. Students will depart from the Frank W. Hale Black Cultural Center, 153 W. 12th Avenue, at approximately 3:30 p.m. CONTACT: Larry Williamson, Hale Center, (614) 292-0074.

Symposium addresses “design ecologies” – Jan. 13-14. Ohio State’s Knowlton School of Architecture is hosting “Design Ecologies Symposium: Sustainable Potentials in Architecture” Friday and Saturday (1/13-14) in 250 Knowlton Hall, 275 West Woodruff Avenue. The symposium will examine the ways material practice, architecture and landscape architecture contribute to ecological systems and sustainable practices. The event begins Friday (1/13) at
5:30 p.m. with a presentation by Bruce Mau, founder of Bruce Mau Design and co-founder of the Institute without Boundaries in Toronto. On Saturday, the symposium will feature three sessions: Material Cycles, Landscape Ecologies and Building Environments. This symposium is free and open to the public; no registration is required. CONTACT: Lisa Tilder, tilder.1@osu.edu or Beth Blostein, blostein.3@osu.edu, associate professors of architecture and conference organizers.

The person listed as the CONTACT will have the most current information about the story. Call on our media relations staff for help with any Ohio State story: Shelly Hoffman, (614) 247-4748 or hoffman.511@osu.edu, Jim Lynch, (614) 247-4110 or lynch.270@osu.edu, or Amy Murray, (614) 292-8385 or murray-goedde.1@osu.edu